John Bowker
@johnbowker.bsky.social
Policy researcher, retired record & book peddler. Transit, housing, land use, energy, infrastructure & misc #onpoli wonkery. #ONDP. Tweets my own (he/him)
Last year, ACTO released an important report on how Ontario’s housing policies, including the Residential Tenancies Act, are failing the survivors of gender based violence www.acto.ca/production/w... #onpoli
February 6, 2026 at 3:21 PM
Last year, ACTO released an important report on how Ontario’s housing policies, including the Residential Tenancies Act, are failing the survivors of gender based violence www.acto.ca/production/w... #onpoli
Most Finch West LRT delays are due to equipment failures Metrolinx & its P3 contractor are responsible for: “There are a lot of issues there and some of them seem more fundamental than just, ‘Oh we haven’t quite got a few of the kinks worked out yet’” www.thestar.com/news/gta/tor... #onpoli #TOpoli
January 23, 2026 at 11:53 PM
Most Finch West LRT delays are due to equipment failures Metrolinx & its P3 contractor are responsible for: “There are a lot of issues there and some of them seem more fundamental than just, ‘Oh we haven’t quite got a few of the kinks worked out yet’” www.thestar.com/news/gta/tor... #onpoli #TOpoli
Tech expert Carmi Levy on Ford government’s report on Intimate Partner Violence: “This has all the tells, all the signatures of having been at least partly generated by AI” omny.fm/shows/newsta... #onpoli
December 12, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Tech expert Carmi Levy on Ford government’s report on Intimate Partner Violence: “This has all the tells, all the signatures of having been at least partly generated by AI” omny.fm/shows/newsta... #onpoli
Ontario government report on intimate partner violence partly AI-generated, NDP says www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic... #onpoli
December 11, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Ontario government report on intimate partner violence partly AI-generated, NDP says www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic... #onpoli
As more criminal cases get thrown out due to court backlogs & unconstitutional delays, the Ford government is planning significant cuts to the Justice sector, for all its tough talk on auto theft & bail reform budget.ontario.ca/2025/chapter... #onpoli
December 10, 2025 at 1:20 PM
As more criminal cases get thrown out due to court backlogs & unconstitutional delays, the Ford government is planning significant cuts to the Justice sector, for all its tough talk on auto theft & bail reform budget.ontario.ca/2025/chapter... #onpoli
Soft on crime: Fraud incidents have doubled in Ontario in the last decade, but fewer charges are being laid, and the majority of cases get tossed out, due to lack of provincial funding www.cbc.ca/news/canada/... #onpoli
December 10, 2025 at 1:07 PM
Soft on crime: Fraud incidents have doubled in Ontario in the last decade, but fewer charges are being laid, and the majority of cases get tossed out, due to lack of provincial funding www.cbc.ca/news/canada/... #onpoli
Facedrive was once worth more than SNC-Lavalin before its stock price crashed as people asked what, if anything, it actually did. The Ford govt gave this oddly well-connected company $2.5M for devices the CEO bought cheap from a Chinese manufacturer www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art... #onpoli
December 5, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Facedrive was once worth more than SNC-Lavalin before its stock price crashed as people asked what, if anything, it actually did. The Ford govt gave this oddly well-connected company $2.5M for devices the CEO bought cheap from a Chinese manufacturer www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art... #onpoli
Behold the Ford government's contempt for the public consultation requirements of the Environmental Bill of Rights ... and basic math ero.ontario.ca/index.php/no... #onpoli
November 1, 2025 at 1:28 AM
Behold the Ford government's contempt for the public consultation requirements of the Environmental Bill of Rights ... and basic math ero.ontario.ca/index.php/no... #onpoli
The Ford govt & the ex-Infrastructure Ontario CEO who is now the Metrolinx CEO say new P3 procurement methods apply lessons from the Eglinton Crosstown fiasco. But the Auditor General recently reported that these methods have made things even WORSE www.auditor.on.ca/en/content/a... #onpoli
October 31, 2025 at 2:45 PM
The Ford govt & the ex-Infrastructure Ontario CEO who is now the Metrolinx CEO say new P3 procurement methods apply lessons from the Eglinton Crosstown fiasco. But the Auditor General recently reported that these methods have made things even WORSE www.auditor.on.ca/en/content/a... #onpoli
Electricity rates for households are increasing by nearly 30% starting next month, hidden behind increasing taxpayer-funded subsidies now covering nearly 25% of hydro bills oeb.ca/sites/defaul... #onpoli
October 20, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Electricity rates for households are increasing by nearly 30% starting next month, hidden behind increasing taxpayer-funded subsidies now covering nearly 25% of hydro bills oeb.ca/sites/defaul... #onpoli
Wage theft is becoming normalized under the Ford government www.thestar.com/news/gta/wor... #onpoli #onlab
October 18, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Wage theft is becoming normalized under the Ford government www.thestar.com/news/gta/wor... #onpoli #onlab
… and no thanks to Infrastructure Ontario, which covered up a fraud admission by one of its top executives, then somehow failed to find the mountain of evidence this former executive had conspired to rig the $300M St. Mike’s procurement www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic... #onpoli
October 11, 2025 at 12:49 PM
… and no thanks to Infrastructure Ontario, which covered up a fraud admission by one of its top executives, then somehow failed to find the mountain of evidence this former executive had conspired to rig the $300M St. Mike’s procurement www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic... #onpoli
It sure looks like the Ford government decided to stop enforcing the Employment Standards Act, which is supposed to protect workers from things like wage theft, unpaid overtime and stolen tips tparkin.substack.com/p/ontario-wo... #onpoli
October 8, 2025 at 7:01 PM
It sure looks like the Ford government decided to stop enforcing the Employment Standards Act, which is supposed to protect workers from things like wage theft, unpaid overtime and stolen tips tparkin.substack.com/p/ontario-wo... #onpoli
“Ontario’s justice system is failing its basic promises of fairness, timeliness & public safety. If there are no consequences to offenses, if there are no consequences to crimes committed, we become a land of lawlessness” said NDP’s @kristynwongtam.bsky.social www.cp24.com/local/toront... #onpoli
October 7, 2025 at 1:47 PM
“Ontario’s justice system is failing its basic promises of fairness, timeliness & public safety. If there are no consequences to offenses, if there are no consequences to crimes committed, we become a land of lawlessness” said NDP’s @kristynwongtam.bsky.social www.cp24.com/local/toront... #onpoli
More than 70% of Ontarians want a "full public inquiry" into Metrolinx's skyrocketing transit construction costs, according to a Mainstreet poll presented yesterday at the Transport Futures Transit Funding Forum. H/T @stephenwickens.bsky.social #onpoli
September 23, 2025 at 5:36 PM
More than 70% of Ontarians want a "full public inquiry" into Metrolinx's skyrocketing transit construction costs, according to a Mainstreet poll presented yesterday at the Transport Futures Transit Funding Forum. H/T @stephenwickens.bsky.social #onpoli
It is wild that multiple Liberal MPPs were actually ready to quit the party, perhaps ending its official party status, rather than remain led by Crombie. Why did they run under her leadership in the first place? What, if anything, holds this party together? www.thestar.com/politics/pro... #onpoli
September 15, 2025 at 6:08 PM
It is wild that multiple Liberal MPPs were actually ready to quit the party, perhaps ending its official party status, rather than remain led by Crombie. Why did they run under her leadership in the first place? What, if anything, holds this party together? www.thestar.com/politics/pro... #onpoli
TTC chair says Eglinton LRT running in September ‘not looking likely’ #p3fail www.ctvnews.ca/toronto/vide... #onpoli
August 28, 2025 at 9:10 PM
TTC chair says Eglinton LRT running in September ‘not looking likely’ #p3fail www.ctvnews.ca/toronto/vide... #onpoli
“The courts appear to be showing less deference in the face of increased unfairness”: courts are overturning more rulings of Ontario’s administrative tribunals, which the Ford government keeps stacking with underqualified cronies tribunalwatch.ca/2025/increas... #onpoli
August 25, 2025 at 11:47 AM
“The courts appear to be showing less deference in the face of increased unfairness”: courts are overturning more rulings of Ontario’s administrative tribunals, which the Ford government keeps stacking with underqualified cronies tribunalwatch.ca/2025/increas... #onpoli
Therme was broke but needed a net worth of $100M to get the Ontario Place deal. Financial records reveal Therme used an accounting trick to pump up its share value on paper, based on hoped-for profits from another spa project still mired in delays & overruns www.thestar.com/news/investi... #onpoli
August 23, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Therme was broke but needed a net worth of $100M to get the Ontario Place deal. Financial records reveal Therme used an accounting trick to pump up its share value on paper, based on hoped-for profits from another spa project still mired in delays & overruns www.thestar.com/news/investi... #onpoli
“With the support of RECO’s board of directors, I have acted and effective August 22, 2025, Mr. Joseph Richer, the Registrar appointed under the Trust in Real Estate Services Act, 2002, has left RECO” www.reco.on.ca/news/a-state... #onpoli
August 22, 2025 at 11:17 PM
“With the support of RECO’s board of directors, I have acted and effective August 22, 2025, Mr. Joseph Richer, the Registrar appointed under the Trust in Real Estate Services Act, 2002, has left RECO” www.reco.on.ca/news/a-state... #onpoli
New report from RBC Economics: “Canada isn’t in a housing starts slump—Ontario is” www.rbc.com/en/thought-l... #onpoli
August 20, 2025 at 1:55 PM
New report from RBC Economics: “Canada isn’t in a housing starts slump—Ontario is” www.rbc.com/en/thought-l... #onpoli
The ministry found “no records” backing up Stephen Lecce’s claim to a parliamentary committee that the Dresden landfill was singled out for priority because the ministry had identified it as “the fastest to increase Ontario’s internal waste capacity” www.thetrillium.ca/insider-news... #onpoli
August 15, 2025 at 11:58 AM
The ministry found “no records” backing up Stephen Lecce’s claim to a parliamentary committee that the Dresden landfill was singled out for priority because the ministry had identified it as “the fastest to increase Ontario’s internal waste capacity” www.thetrillium.ca/insider-news... #onpoli
"Doug Ford had some harsh words for 'NIMBYs' Tuesday — and then railed against building new housing among the backyards of existing neighbourhoods" 🙄 www.thetrillium.ca/insider-news... #onpoli
August 12, 2025 at 8:14 PM
"Doug Ford had some harsh words for 'NIMBYs' Tuesday — and then railed against building new housing among the backyards of existing neighbourhoods" 🙄 www.thetrillium.ca/insider-news... #onpoli